Advice on Planning a Charity Auction

I ran across this how-to on planning a charity auction on CharityNetUSA. It's a good intro to the nuts and bolts... http://charitynetusa.com/blog/?p=103

For my part, I think auctions can be a great source of revenue, but they require creativity, persistence, and a dedicated staff person or volunteer to do it "right."

Consider doing a themed auction- targeted to the audience you are trying to draw, or something that will bring home your mission. Be thoughtful while making solicitations for gifts. What can the donor get out of it? How does their product or service play into the theme of the event, or appeal to the audience?

Approach items it with the eye of a marketer. Can you group related donations to create a package that is more valuable than the sum of its parts? Package together theatre tickets with a limo ride and a dinner downtown and promote it as a killer date night! Can you provide an experience that the bidders could never put together for themselves? If you have access to important or famous people, see if you can get them to donate their time doing something fun or valuable with the winning bidder. Get a famous golfer to donate a round of golf for the winner and two of their friends. Or get and influential business or civic leader to donate a business lunch and see how much people will pay to bend his or her ear! Your celebrity's time doesn't have a fair market value, so bidders can deduct the cost of their bid above whatever expenses are involved, making it a more attractive way to give.

And just like all fundraising, in-person solicitations work better than more passive forms of asks. Many folks throw together a silent auction to augment their galas, and just stick the auction items in a corner for people to bid on in a rather passive manner. This doesn't give donors the visibility they could get for their donation, and really isn't optimizing the value of what is donated. So consider getting a professional auctioneer to do a live auction. It will put the fundraising activity front and center and since it's a public event, a good auctioneer can play on the peer pressure and competition to raise the bids.

I thought this was a particularly apt article from Marketing Profs about marketing in a recession.

Basically, if you can maintain or amp up your advertising when tough times convince your competitors to cut back on their messaging, you're sure reap major benefits that will far outlast the recession.

Be sure to read the original New Yorker article that inspired the Marketing Prof's comments:

For philanthropy courses, students become the givers - The Boston Globe

What better way to learn the value of giving than by actually doing it? It's an idea that I've been mulling over lately, and am glad to see it in action as described in this article- College students exploring philanthropy by going through the process of vetting charitable groups for real grants.

For philanthropy courses, students become the givers - The Boston Globe

I've been thinking lately about using this idea to help coach people who feel hesitant about fundraising, too. I think most people have a hard time, especially at the beginning, asking for money. But once you understand the mental, emotional, and spiritual process of deciding where and why you donate your money, the whole things starts to look and feel a little different.

I know I'm not the only professional fundraiser in the world who found her self giving more once she got into the business of asking. I think giving and asking naturally go hand-in-hand.

Giving declined in 2008

Total charitable giving declined by 2% last year according to a recent report. Given the fact that Americans have seen their home values and stock profiles tank, this is actually much better than you might have expected.

Giving to religious groups, united way groups and voter registration drives actually went up.

Giving to the arts, health, environment, and education dropped by 5%. And giving to human service organizations dropped by 13%, which is especially hard since they are seeing increased need and government budget cuts all at the same time. This is something I'm going to keep in mind when I plan my giving for this year.

Overall, it is heartening to know that when times are tough people aren't cutting donations first. As this NPR report notes, now is the most important time to tell your donors about the good work that you are doing.

Listen to the NPR story.

Read the report. (PDF)

Giving it away for free

These days, almost everything you need to run a great organization is basically out there for the taking. I've put together a list of free or cheap online resources on the web that can help you put together some great fundraising campaigns.

Check it out: www.maustinfuller.com/resources.html

Fundit Bar

This is a great idea, especially for any organization with a large number of internet-using supporters.

There have been lots of search and support projects out there, such as GoodSearch, etc, but now Yahoo! has created a more powerful tool for organizations to use internet searches to raise money, and improve brand loyalty.

This is a Fundit Bar:


Organizations can now create their own internet search bar. Every time their supporters use the search function, the organization earns 10 cents. That's close to 10 times what you'd earn from a search on the GoodSearch site.

Even sweeter, you can design the search bar to broadcast updates, give your supporters instant access to information, and constantly project your logo/brand whenever supporters have their browsers open.

Here's where you can get your own.

The Ask

Jason Dick at A Small Change is focused on "The Ask" in many of his posts this past month. He's got some little gems of wisdom I want to remember and share. As a development professional who went straight from working as a Grantwriter to a Development Director position, it's helpful for me to hear from folks who are willing to talk about the nuts and bolts of this aspect of fundraising. What do you ACTUALLY SAY during those lunch meetings? Well here's what Jason would say:

To ASSURE a Gift you should Ask Out Loud then Be Quiet.

Check out all three posts. And forgive Jason the groan-worthy "ASKronym". It's useful stuff.